You can tell from the increasingly personal nature of Prime Minister’s Questions that the general election campaign has begun. You can tell from the opinion polls that Labour is within sight of victory. But you can also tell from a speech Keir Starmer made on Saturday that Labour still has a lot to do.
Though the next election is likely to take place in the autumn of 2024, it might, in a sense, have already happened. We have, in all probability, already seen the events that will define the outcome. The Johnson rule-breaking in Downing Street, the fleeting Truss-Kwarteng calamity and the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland are the political landmarks of the term since 2019. The economic landmarks are a meagre growth rate and inflation in double digits, the combination of which produces a crisis in the cost of living.
